Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI Purchases New Holdings in Albertsons Companies, Inc. $ACI

Key Points

• Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI has acquired 78,800 shares of Albertsons Companies, valued at approximately $1.73 million, during the first quarter.
• Recent analyst ratings show an upgrade of Albertsons Companies from a "strong sell" to a "hold" and further to a "buy," with a consensus price target of $23.94.
• Albertsons reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.55, beating estimates, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.15, yielding 3.2% annually.

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new position in shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 78,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,733,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Albertsons Companies in the first quarter valued at $32,000. Bessemer Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Albertsons Companies during the first quarter worth about $40,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 340.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,919 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 1,483 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 48,840.0% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,447 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 2,442 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 54.8% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,997 shares of the company's stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 1,061 shares in the last quarter. 71.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ACI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded Albertsons Companies from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $24.00 price target on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Barclays initiated coverage on Albertsons Companies in a research report on Monday, July 21st. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $19.00 target price on the stock. Tigress Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Albertsons Companies in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $27.00 target price on the stock. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Albertsons Companies has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $23.94.

Albertsons Companies Stock Down 1.5%

ACI traded down $0.28 during trading on Monday, reaching $18.46. 1,670,939 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,025,922. The stock has a market cap of $10.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.51. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.00 and a fifty-two week high of $23.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.18. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $19.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.01.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.01. Albertsons Companies had a return on equity of 37.92% and a net margin of 1.18%.The firm had revenue of $24.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $24.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Albertsons Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.030-2.160 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Albertsons Companies, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Albertsons Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 25th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 25th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Albertsons Companies's payout ratio is currently 36.59%.

Albertsons Companies Profile

Albertsons Companies, Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of food and drug stores in the United States. The company's food and drug retail stores offer grocery products, general merchandise, health and beauty care products, pharmacy, fuel, and other items and services. It also manufactures and processes food products for sale in stores.